Spotify boosts its moderation transparency after celeb-driven backlash vs Joe Rogan’s Covid content

The rock ‘n roll revolt… just got an encore. Criticism from cultural icons has pushed Spotify to be more upfront about its moderation policies. Refresher: last week, Neil Young demanded that Spotify remove his tunes or remove Joe Rogan, the world’s most popular podcaster. The backlash was fueled by an interview Rogan published with a scientist who promoted Covid vaccine misinformation. Young pulled his music from Spotify, and Joni Mitchell said she’d follow. Then Brene Brown said she was pausing her Spotify-exclusive pod. Now, Spotify’s making amends:

• Spotify published its moderation policies, which weren’t publicly available before and weren’t clearly enforced consistently. For example: Spotify has removed thousands of episodes containing Covid misinfo, but not the Joe Rogan ep. The streamer has also removed dozens of Rogan episodes, but no vax-related ones.
• Spotify is working to add a content advisory to any Covid-related pods, which will direct listeners to a Covid hub with up-to-date, trusted info.
• Rogan’s response: In a 10-minute Insta video, Rogan said he would try harder to “balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people’s perspectives” and that he’s happy to include a disclaimer on his pod.

Spotify’s having its “Facebook moment”... Facebook has faced major backlash for failing to rein in misinfo around important national issues (flashback to 2016 elections). Twitter, YouTube, and other social apps have also struggled with content moderation as they’ve grown — from regulatory probes to public backlash. Facebook has paid Accenture $500M per year to help moderate its platform, but still hasn’t regained user trust.